Hebrews 13:11-14

Hebrews 13:11-14 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

John 18:29-31 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

John 1:11-13 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Jewish hierarchy thought of Jesus as an agitator, a troublemaker. They wanted him gone, permanently out of their lives; therefore, they plotted to kill him. To them He represented a visceral threat: just as a robber steals possessions, they feared Jesus would take away their position of authority and status with God and with the people. Consequently, they promoted him as a common criminal and chose Golgotha as the final destination of his life. They crucified Jesus outside of the city, outside of the Jewish culture and law, outside of God's elect. A Gentile people, the Romans, took Jesus and hung him on the cross. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. In Palestine, He was rejected: the people chose to release Barrabas, a common criminal, over releasing Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But outside of the camp on a lonely hill, Jesus became the Savior of all mankind. God allowed his own to reject Jesus, so that He would be the Savior of all. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

We who are IN CHRIST have no enduring home; we are outside of the camp of this world. This Earth is not our final resting place because we have a home that is much more enduring than this temporal existence. Someday we will have a rendezvous with God and live with him forever because Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people (us) holy through his own blood. He was rejected by his own so all could find him. If He were still within the city, within the culture and the regulations of the Jewish people, we would have to become Jews to receive salvation. But He was crucified outside the city, depicting that we are not saved through the Jewish culture or by the Law, but by the grace and mercy of God that was shed abroad through Jesus' sacrifice for all who would believe on his name. Through Abraham's SEED all people would be blessed. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

As children who were born outside of the camp because of faith in Jesus' work, we should live upright and holy lives, revealing God's salvation plan and loving kindness to the whole world. In every way we should be his ambassadors to all people, friends and enemies alike. Our affections should be set on things above, on an enduring city not made by the hands of men. We should not emulate the world or anything in it. When and if we stray into loving the world or sink into sin, we are going back inside the camp where we will try to live by laws and not by grace. The Bible says that God takes no pleasure in those who turn back. He does not bless those who turn from him. Continually rejecting God eventually leads to judgment and absence from God's presence because when we reject Christ, we reject the only door to freedom. But we who are reading this are not like those who retreat, who turn back, for we have set our minds on Christ and we will finish the race to the end. For those who do remain outside of the camp rooted and grounded IN CHRIST JESUS, God has laid up a crown of righteousness that does not fade. When we receive those crowns, we will cast them at his feet in praise and adoration, and we will be with him forever.